Guantanamo Quotes

It's not just about the Guantanamo detainees. It's about basic checks and balances and the U.S. system of government, and ensuring that even the president is not above the law.

JENNIFER DASKAL

If it were up to me I would close Guant·namo not tomorrow but this afternoon...Essentially, we have shaken the belief that the world had in America's justice system...and it's causing us far more damage than any good we get from it.

Guantanamo allows us to secure dangerous detainees without the risk of escape, while at the same time providing us with valuable intelligence information on how best to proceed in the war against terror and prevent future attacks.

Jim Ryun

American soldiers had to guard prisoners on the inside while receiving mortar and weapons fire from the outside. Guantanamo is distant from any battlefield, making it far more secure.

John Yoo

I'd like to see it shut down...I believe that from the standpoint of how it reflects on us that it's been pretty damaging.

Admiral Michael Mullen

I would say that there will be no water boarding on my watch. There will be no torture on my watch.

Obama

The Supreme Court has not closed the doors of justice to the detainees imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay. This is a major victory for the rule of law and affirms the right of every person, citizen or non-citizen, detained by the United States to test the legality of his or her detention in a U.S. Court.

Michael Ratner

I think what's going on in Guantanamo Bay and other places is a disgrace to the U.S.A. I wouldn't say it's the cause of terrorism, but it has given impetus and excuses to potential terrorists to lash out at our country and justify their despicable acts.

What has happened at Guantanamo Bay... does not represent the will of the American people. I'm embarrassed about it, I think its wrong. I think it does give terrorists an unwarranted excuse to use the despicable means to hurt innocent people.

Each department and institution has its own authorities and responsibilities, and they act on that basis. It is wrong to even compare such actions to what is done in Guantanamo or elsewhere by the Americans. They do not stand on a high moral platform to preach to others.

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani

Many of the vicious criminals held there have been caught on the battlefield fighting against American troops and shutting down Guantanamo Bay would just require the military to move them elsewhere.

Bill Shuster

I was most impressed with the professionalism of our soldiers stationed there, and I am now more confident than ever that that the operations at Guantanamo are being conducted in a humane and necessary manner.

Jim Ryun

It gives us a very, very bad name, not just internationally. I have a great deal of difficulty understanding how we can hold someone, pick someone up, particularly someone who might be an American citizen--even if they were caught somewhere abroad--acting against American interests, and hold them without ever giving them an opportunity to appear before a magistrate.

James A. Baker III

The Justices are currently considering a case, argued last month, which seeks to extend the writ of habeas corpus to al Qaeda and Taliban detainees at Guantanamo.